Long covid in children

[Vanillacupcake33]

Hi all has anyone's dc suffered long covid? My dd has had covid and has been back school now for a week since isolation. During the week she has been complaining of stomach ache and feeling sick and had this during having covid too. She's woke up this morning being sick too. Could this be long covid? I did mention this to the school last week and dd said she was sick at school but the teachers never told me dd came home and told me which I'm really annoyed about. Should I ring the doctor for advice or 111. She's had quite abit of time of before covid due to illness and needing a pcr then 11 days off for having actual covid so I doubt the school will be impressed if she's off again so I could do with some advice on whether it could be long covid just so I can let the school know and have piece of mind myself. Thankyou

It could but it could also be anxiety - stomach ache and sickness are classic anxiety and from what you have said with missing all that time it could fit.

Have you spoken to her as to where she is mentally with all of this - Covid can definitely impact there

Have a chat with your GP.
I do not want to get you into panic, but there is a secondary wave to covid for children, stomach ache is one of the main symptoms. I do not think your DD has it, as it is a go into A&E condition. But I think your GP needs to have a look.
Covid affects the stomach, many people reported intestinal problems indeed. She may need a bit of extra care, like probiotics or a mild diet till all gets back to normal.
Yes, it is true anxiety may lead to similar symptoms, but I am personally getting fed up of the constant link between anxiety and long covid that keeps going around! You know your child, if she was not prone to have this before, no reason to have it now.

It certainly could be covid related but I would immediately waved around the long covid terminology. It took me 3 weeks to recover from covid & I still have no sense of smell two month later! I also developed a condition called Chostocondritis which was really painful.. but it’s fine, I just dealt with it & got on with life. Post viral illness is common, people are just in a massive flap about long covid. It’s absolutely real & debilitating for some people who still feel poorly months later. But everyone else just needs to give it a bit of time. 6 weeks is not unusual for recovery from an illness & covid is a weird one!

I don’t really understand why being diagnosed with long covid would give anyone peace of mind.. if it’s under 6 weeks, she’s just recovering from covid. Orr potentially has caught a stomach bug which are massively doing the rounds at the moment! You should keep her off school for 48 if she’s been vomiting anyway!

My toddler has had covid twice and both times wasn’t back to 100% health for a while afterwards. First time particularly he was noticeably fatigued for some weeks. Second time he had a slightly upset stomach for a while but fatigue wasn’t bad. But he did get better, just didn’t bounce straight back.

(I’ve got long covid myself that isn’t fully resolved after 18 months+ - what my toddler has wasn’t the same at all)

Thanks for your replies. The feeling sick was her main symptoms with covid, if it wasn't for the fact she had other symptoms too I wouldn't have tested her because I'd have thought it was more of a tummy bug until I'd read stomach problems can be related. She's OK in herself and not sick everyday but does say she feels sick quite alot and only since having covid but today she's actually being sick but now feeling OK again.
@mushmonster what symptoms would I need to look out for for this? Just so I'm aware.
It's just hard woth school. Her normal teacher is off with covid at the minute so has a supply and when I mentioned it to her she didn't seem to listen and looked at me like I was silly and had the nerve to tell me in the week dd was complaining of tummy ache and sniffles knowing she's just got over covid and other colds are going around too so when dd got home and told me she was sick at school I wasn't happy that no one told me at all. She does still have a slight cough but I know these symptoms can last a while I just wasn't sure on the stomach situation because you hear more about the cough and sense of smell. I know your not meant to test for 90 days but I tested her this morning out of interest and it's negative so I'm guessing it's kind of out of her system enough. I just don't understand this post covid thing at all.

That's really early days to think Long Covid. Lots of people I know who have had it recently have told me it has taken at least 3 weeks to feel like themselves again. It is really important that she takes it easy, rests etc. to allow her body to get over it.

Search PIMS TS if you are in UK. It is very rare, in % affected. Tends to happen around 3 weeks post covid infection. One of the symptoms is acute stomach pain, so much it was initially mistaken wit appendicitis in some children. Fever too, alongside other symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting, rashes.

Most likely she will only need rest, mild diet, to get her flora and body back to normal, but the GP should be able to help with that. Around here pharmacists are giving a hand with this, maybe they can help.

Sorry if the long covid term has offended anyone I mean post covid but as I'd just been reading up on it I saw alot of long covid terminology so assumed that's what it was called. My dd has just turned 5 and suffered alot when she had covid it was really worrying so it just worried me that she's still suffering and the school just seem to think she's just complaining alot and care more about the attendance than the health of the children rather than supporting then if they are still suffering.

@mushmonster thankyou so much you've been really helpful. We are in the UK so will keep an eye on the symptoms thankyou.

My ds had this after covid and the doctor said he’s seen it happen before. It took exactly three months to resolve itself. Could be the same (doctor described it as long covid) but could be something else. I’d speak to your doctor.

Thankyou @realitea. She's not interested in eating anything but had managed to keep down water. Without sounding disgusting it's not actual sick it's vomit really watery (sorry TMI) she's quite pale too. She's seems OK one minute minute off the next. If she's no better in the next couple of hours I'll ring 111 for some advise maybe.

Yes that’s the same as ds! For him, he’d be fine one minute and then it just came out of the blue and it happened regularly.

Dd symtoms settled a little. She's started with a runny nose, coughing and sore throat so thought it might be cold and then last night started to vomit again felling hot then cold. She's woke up feeling herself this morning and managed to eat some breakfast. I'm now waiting on a phone call with the gp. It's mostly night time she seems to go off. It's so confusing that she's really ill one minute and then ok the next. I'm not quite sure what the doctor can do but I'm hoping it's just a bug that will pass but as she's feeling OK at the minute I'm not sure the gp will do anything.

Spoken to the gp and he said he is confident it is long covid. It is quite rare in children but unfortunately dd seems to be one of them. He said from what he has seen children of young ages suffer with their stomachs more with covid and there will be days they feel ok and days they don't for a few weeks. He's seen it in quite a few children.

Sorry to hear the GP thinks it's long covid OP. Just wanted to point out that it might not last too long. We haven't had covid but my daughter got very poorly with flu and once she was over the worst (took about 2 weeks), she was still really unwell for about another month! I think it can be normal to have awful symptoms that linger after a nasty virus and my DDs main lasting symptoms were fatigue and feeling sick/stomach ache. Really hope it doesn't last too long for your little one

DS was floored for a week by a virus with characteristics of Covid in Dec 2019. He was on basic function for a few weeks after and wasn't really back on form for a few months. He had abdominal cramps in Feb/ March 2020 which we put down to anxiety about all the brewing Coronavirus talk, and that did ease when we cut out the news and we ended up in the definite position of lockdown.

Post viral fatigue has always been around and pacing life more gently as they recover will help.

I've known people go down with other relatively mild illnesses while run-down in the weeks after Covid.

@popcornriver thankyou and u hope your dd is feeling better now. I mentioned it to the school today and they looked at me like I cane from another planet because last week she was complaining of tummy ache and feeling sick and it must of seemed like she was constantly complaining but the teacher said she was fine, she came home and threw up so now I've explained to the teachers I hope they understand a little bit more. Dd is only little and doesn't understand herself why she sometimes feels off and other times ok.
@bogrollbogof that must have been awful for your ds and yes anxiety around the time coronovirus came about was relatively scary especially for little ones who didn't understand what was happening and it was all that was ever on the news.

This thread has been so helpful, I have a post-covid sicky child and I'm going to speak to the Dr when the world reopens properly after Christmas and New Year.

@tripleseptic hope your little one feels better soon. Its been over 5 weeks since my dd had covid and she's been sent home twice from school feeling off and hot and has her cough still hasn't gone away. She was ill over Xmas with snotty nose and coughing but the gp said there's nothing more I can do but ride it out. She just never seems free from it at all yet, I don't know how long this will last but I'm hoping she'll be back to normal soon.

Thanks so much @Vanillacupcake33. My DD is 6 and we tested positive on 11/11. She was mildly ill with a phlegmy throat, nothing I'd have kept her off school for ordinarily, but every day since she has reduced appetite, sore tummy and is REALLY moany, like never before! "Mummy, I have hiccups and a sore foot because I bumped it when I hiccuped and my hiccups and sore, but my foot is really sore". I have been spiking milkshake with probiotics this week, and diluting juice with a tonic. It goes against everything I know, not telling her, but I just want her to feel more like herself without a fight. I've had spoonfuls of the tonic, probiotics, a lot of alcohol to kill the germs, antacids, antisickness, I fasted for a bit, this is the first day since 9th November I haven't had to take painkillers or administer calpol, one of us always feels grotty, if not both at the same time. Thanks for your message, we'll all get out of this soon. Triple jabbed and wouldn't wish this on my WORST enemy 😿

My 8 year old dd tested positive on 22/11 had a mild case while in isolation but since then she’s had a ear infection, stomach bug and seems much more tired than usual 😓 she also looks really pale with bags under her eyes. I’m hoping the rest from school over the hols is doing her good 🤞🤞xx

@tripleseptic my dd is exactly the same constantly saying she has tummy ache, sore this sore that. It really must mess with their immune system. She's still snotty now. I'm dreading her going back to school, I've told the teacher what the gp said but I think they are sick of hearing her say she feels off but there's nothing at all I can do about it but let ot take its course unfortunately.

My 5YO is exactly the same. He had very mild symptoms during the positive period but since has complained of tummy pain on and off, had 5 days of non stop vomiting and diarrhoea, now has a runny and blocked nose. It just seems to be going on and on and on. Definitely noticed he’s more tired too so worried about how going back to school will effect him and how he will manage. We saw a doctor who said the same about having to just watch and wait which is hard when you want to help and make things better.